MrKnittle
Chirping
Hello all.
On Monday night when I put the flock away for the night, I noticed one of the girls had a slight limp. It was worse the next morning, but she was still trying to keep up with the rest of them. At first I thought it was bumblefoot, but she was limping while swimming in the pond, too. I kept her isolated in the pen on Wednesday until noon, then let her out with the rest. I noticed throughout the day that one of the other hens kept mounting her, asserting dominance. She was the original alpha of the flock, I believe, since they were ducklings. Yesterday, she kept her distance from the rest of the flock for the majority of the time they were on the pond, but they would all lay in the corn together with no issue. Today, she's really calm and didn't want to come out of the pen with the rest. She's been eating and drinking fine. The rest of the flock, of course, won't leave her and are all laying around the pen (which I don't understand if they kept bullying her on the water). I just got a couple of pictures of her favored leg, and it looks pretty swollen. Now, my flock is not the lovey-dovey type of birds. They will get within a few feet of me if they think I have food, but I haven't picked them up or touched them for about three months (not for lack of trying). She may let me get close to her in the pen, but she still heads toward the house portion of the pen whenever I get too near. Even if I do end up being able to catch her to examine, I'm nervous she's going to be pretty aggressive, especially if she's in pain. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
On Monday night when I put the flock away for the night, I noticed one of the girls had a slight limp. It was worse the next morning, but she was still trying to keep up with the rest of them. At first I thought it was bumblefoot, but she was limping while swimming in the pond, too. I kept her isolated in the pen on Wednesday until noon, then let her out with the rest. I noticed throughout the day that one of the other hens kept mounting her, asserting dominance. She was the original alpha of the flock, I believe, since they were ducklings. Yesterday, she kept her distance from the rest of the flock for the majority of the time they were on the pond, but they would all lay in the corn together with no issue. Today, she's really calm and didn't want to come out of the pen with the rest. She's been eating and drinking fine. The rest of the flock, of course, won't leave her and are all laying around the pen (which I don't understand if they kept bullying her on the water). I just got a couple of pictures of her favored leg, and it looks pretty swollen. Now, my flock is not the lovey-dovey type of birds. They will get within a few feet of me if they think I have food, but I haven't picked them up or touched them for about three months (not for lack of trying). She may let me get close to her in the pen, but she still heads toward the house portion of the pen whenever I get too near. Even if I do end up being able to catch her to examine, I'm nervous she's going to be pretty aggressive, especially if she's in pain. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
